‘Our wives wouldn’t like it’: why women had to work harder to get to the top

Senior directors reveal the barriers they used to face as The Australian Financial Review reveals its Women to Watch list for 2023.

Sally PattenBOSS editor

Mar 8, 2023 – 5.00am

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When Santos and QBE Insurance director Yasmin Allen was a senior investment banker in the 1990s, she asked if she could join the executive leadership team. It seemed a reasonable request, given Allen was head of industrial research and served on the quality review committee for corporate transactions.

The chief executive said he would consider the promotion and duly came back about a week later.

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Sally PattenBOSS editorSally Patten edits BOSS, and writes about workplace issues. She was the financial services editor and personal finance editor of the AFR, The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. She edited business news for The Times of London.